A Durham University spin-out, based in the North East of England, that makes carbon-negative additives for concrete and asphalt so that buildings and roads leave less carbon behind.
Low Carbon Materials makes ingredients that go into concrete and road surfaces. Its two products are OSTO, a carbon-negative aggregate for concrete, and ACLA, a gravel-like additive for asphalt. A carbon-negative material locks away more carbon dioxide than was released making it. The company makes them from waste that would otherwise be burned, and the carbon dioxide is stored for good through a process called mineralisation. The additives are mixed in to replace a small share, from 1% to 5%, of normal aggregate. The company says they are lighter than normal aggregate, which can cut transport costs, but the wider benefits it suggests, such as absorbing some pollutants, are still being studied.
The company was founded in 2019 by Dr Natasha Boulding, Dr Phil Buckley and Scott Bush, who met while doing PhDs at Durham University. The idea came during an innovation challenge at Durham University Business School, and it became the university's first student spin-out. The founders say they wanted to have an urgent positive impact on the climate and were frustrated by the slow pace of innovation in larger companies. Dr Boulding is chief executive. Her words on the goal are: "Our goal is to deliver carbon-negative solutions for the construction sector that outperform traditional materials."
Low Carbon Materials is based in the North East of England, and its own unit is at Seaham in County Durham, where the inner walls are built from OSTO. In May 2024 Prince William visited the company to learn about its products and tour its facilities. It has worked with National Highways through the Accelerating Low Carbon Innovation programme run by the Connected Places Catapult, with Skanska on a pilot on the M11, and with Tarmac, the contractor on the A64 low carbon scheme. Several local authorities have used ACLA on their roads, and it has been used on more than 40 construction projects. ACLA was also used in resurfacing at Elvet Hill on Durham University's campus.
On recognition, the company was a finalist in the Fix Our Climate category of the Earthshot Prize in 2022, won the Blueprint StartUp Challenge in 2019, and won the BE100 SCALE award at the Blue Earth Summit in 2025. It received support from Durham's Venture Lab and the Northern Accelerator programme. We did not find a staff number or a values page, so we cannot say much about daily culture beyond the founders' stated drive to make a climate difference.
A materials start-up like this needs chemists and materials scientists, process and production engineers, laboratory technicians, quality and testing staff, people who work with road builders and concrete companies, and business, finance and marketing staff. Chemistry, materials science, civil engineering and environmental science are the usual routes in, and the company's Durham roots show that students can turn a university project into a real business.
Website: www.lowcarbonmaterials.com
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